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IRONING BMUBIIH.l K No. 506,428. Pafe'ted Oct. 10,1893.

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IRONING MACHINE. No. 506,428. .Patented oct. 10, 1893.

NITED STATES YPATENT OFFICE.

HORACE L. GEE, OF TROY, ASSIGN OR OF ONE-HALF TO VALTER L. HERMANS,

or coHoEs,

NEW YORK.

SECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 506,428, dated October10, 1893. Application led May 16, 1892. Serial No. 433,101. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, HORACE L. GEE, a citizen ofthe United States,residing at Troy, county of Rensselaer, and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Ironing-Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to such improvements and consists of the novelconstruction and combination of parts hereinafter described andsubsequently claimed.

Reference may be had to the accompanying drawings, and the letters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Similar letters refer to similar parts inthe several Iigures therein. y

Figure l of the drawings is an end view in elevation of my improvedironing-machine.' Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same,taken on the broken line, 22, in Fig. l, with the lower part brokenaway. Fig; 3 is a vertical cross-section taken on the broken line, 3-3,in Fig. 2, extended through the parts broken away in the latter figure.

A, A-f represent the end uprights of the main fr'ame of the machinewhich support in suitable bearings a rotary polishing-roll,.A2, andupper and'lower feed-rolls, A3, and A4-. The middle or polishing roll isadapted to be heated in the usual manner by the combustion of gasconveyed interiorlyfof the hollow roll by a pipe, A5-, inserted throughoneof the roll-journals apertured to receive it, as shown in Fig. 2. Thepipe is non-rotaryand is Supported in a cap or bracket as indicated l:...Fig. 2. Combustion takes place at the out-Lv c, "fr small apertures,A6, in the gassupply` The rolls, A3, and A4-, are preferably cethed inthe usual manner and serve to feed nzpress the fabric to be ironedagainst the polishing-roll. The feed-roll shafts are rotaryinbearing-boxes, A7, movable in slideways, As-,in the frame uprights. Thepressure of the feed-rolls upon the polishing-roll is maintained byweights, W, and W. The weight, W-, is adjustably secured to one arm oflever, W2,` fulcrumed upon the rod W3-, the ends of which are supportedby the end uprights of the frame. The other arm of this weight lever iscon- The other end of the latter lever is connected by link, W6, withthe arm, W7, fixed upon the rock-shaft, WS. Another arm, Wi-, fixed uponthe rock-shaft, is connected by link, W10-, with the arm, W12-3 of thelever which is pivoted upon the shaft of the upper feed-roll.. The otherarm, W14- of such lever is connected by link, W15-, with the lever,Wlfulcrumed atene end upon the rod, W17-, and provided at the otherendwith the adjustable weight, W. A like system of weights and levers, notWholly shown, is provided at the other end of the rolls.

By means of a hand-lever, A9, fixed upon one end of the rock-shaft, W8,the shaft can be rocked to force the feed-rolls awayfrom thepolishing-roll and back again to the position shown in the drawings, therock-lever being held in any desired position by the ratchet, A1-, andpawl, A12-. When the rolls are/forced apart, the weights rest upon thefloor, W19, or other suitable support.

Most ironing machines having a heated polishing roll are provided withmechanism for separating the rolls to admit of repair or renewal of thematerial with which the feedrolls are clothedor for other purposes. Itisnecessary to rotate the polishing-roll to heat it equally on all sidesbefore work is commenced, and to prevent delay the rotation of such rollshould be continuous to keep it uniformly heated, while the feed-rollsare temporarily forced away from it for repairs or other purposes. Theclothing of the feedrolls can frequently be better repaired while inmotion than they could be while at rest, and one of the objects of myinvention is'to provide a 'combination of a polishing roll supportedinfixed relation to the machine frame, with feed rolls and feed rollraising and lowering mechanism adapted to raise and lower both feedrolls and at all times to support said rolls with mechanism formaintaining the rotary movements of all the rolls in whatever positionthey may be made to assume by the system of weights and levers.

Another object of my invention is to pro- IOO vide a convenient meansfor communicating to the feed-rolls a much slower rate of rotarymovement than that communicated to the polishing-roll.Heretoforesuchvariationsinrates of speed have been accomplished in alimited degree by means of an expensive system of intermediate coggedwheels and pinions. As heretofore constructed, the practical limit ofvariation has been about twenty-two revolutions of the polishing-roll toone of the feedrolls. It is desirable to increase this ratio two orthree fold; and I have ascertained that by use of worm-gear connectionsbetween the polishing and feed-rolls, I can easily and cheaply obtainany desired ratio of rotary speed, and a steady, even movement of thefeed-rolls. Such a construction also permits of a considerable movementof each of the feed-rolls away from the polishing-roll withoutinterfering with the continuous movement of all the rolls. When desiredpower may be applied directly to the polishing-roll, but I have shown aseparate shaft, B, having end-bearings in the frame uprights, providedat one end with a loose and fixed driving-pulley,

B-, and with a gear-wheel, 132-, at the other end, adapted to engagewith gear-wheel, B3, fixed upon the trunnion of the polishing-roll torotate the same. The drive-shaft, B, is also provided witha beveled gearwheel, B1-, fixed thereon and adapted to engage with each of thegear-wheels, C and C-, fixed respectively upon the worm-shafts, C2, andC3-. The worm-shafts are rotary in bearings contained""iwangle-brackets, C4-, secured to the frame uprights by screw-bolts,C5. The worms, D-, are adapted to respectively engage with theworm-wheels, D2, D3-, severally fixed upon the feed-roll shafts.

It is obvious that the driving-shaft will rotate as many times duringeach rotation of the feed-rolls asthere are teeth in the wormwheels. Thelarger the diameter, the greater the number of teeth which can bepractically employed in the worm-wheels, the greater the leverageobtainable to rotate the feed-rolls. By having considerable leverage Iamable to impart a steady even movement to all the rolls instead of anunsteady, jerky movement to one or more of them.

The gear-wheels, B2-, and B3-, may be-of the same size or one may belarger than the otherV and both made detachable and interchangeable toproduce a varying ratio of speed between the feed and polishing rolls,when desired.

' I'can easily make fifty to seventy-five teeth on a twelve o`r"rteeninch Worm-Wheel, producing a relative rate of speed between thepolishing roll and feed-rolls of fifty or seventy-ve to one.

By having the worm-shafts parallel with the respective slideways, A8,and the worms of the proper length, the worm-Wheels will not bedisengaged from the actuating worms by the movement of the feed-rolls toand from the polishing-roll, since the worm-wheels will travellongitudinally of their respective worms while in mesh therewith.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In an ironing machine, the combination of the polishing roll, thefeed rolls, a worm gear intermediate the polishing roll and each feedroll, mechanism at each end of the machine for moving` the feed rolls toand from the polishing roll said roll moving mechanism being adapted tosupport the feed rolls in every position of the same, and consisting oftwo pairs of` approximately parallel links,the links W4 and W6 formingone pair, and links W10 and W15 forming the other pair,.each pairconnected loosely by a lever pivoted on the axis of a feed, roll, thelinks W6 and W10 at one side of the rolls being connectedby mech-` anismadapted to move them oppositely, and the links Wl1 and W15 at the otherside of the with a counter-balancing weight, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the polishing roll;

supported in` fixed relation to the machine frame, a spur gear fast onthe shaft of said" roll, feed rolls having eachva worm wheel; on itsshaft, the worm shafts, a bevel gear on each of said shafts, mechanismfor continuously and positively driving thepolishinglrolll andthe feedrolls by the medium of intermediate gears B? and B1 and; feed rollraising and lowering devices adapted to raise and` lower each feedrolland to support said rolls in every position of the same; substantiallyas set forth.

3. In an ironing machine, the combination of a feed roll having a worm.gear, aworm shaft supported to turn in fixed bearingsand provided with abevel gear, a polishing roll having a shaft provided with a spur gear,;adriving shaft having alike gearmcshingiwith the polishing-roll shaftgear and also having a bevel gear meshing with the bevel gear of theworm shaft, and means for moving the feed roll to and from the polishingroll in a right line without disconnecting any of the gears,substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunmtoset my hand thisllth day of` May,1892-1 HORACE L. GEE;

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